Alpha Draconis
by Foreign Organism
Summary: Dragons: known for their combined intelligence and strength, as well as their rarity, longevity and fire breathing abilities. For centuries they have isolated themselves from the rest of the land animals, developing their own society and only communicating with the sea and sky creatures. Now, they must integrate with the rest of the world or face extinction.
1. Chapter 1

Based off the manga, starting in Ch.63

* * *

Ch.1 Red Sauce 

Jack nervously stuffed his mouth with more barbecue tofu, then washed it down with MaiMai milk as he glanced at the two new students sitting in a booth across the cafeteria. They were about 30 yards away, yet he didn't want to turn and face them completely. Instead, he kept stealing glances from the corner of his eye, fascinated yet scared for a reason he couldn't quite place yet. Legosi, who sat across from his canine friend and ate his tofu more deliberately, simply asked, "Are they the new students we've been hearing about?"

"Yeah, it has to be them," Jack replied, taking another chomp of his food. Feeling nervous wasn't something that occurred to him too often, but when it did, he had a habit of eating more.

"Have you talked to them yet?"

"What? No way! I mean, not yet...They scare me."

Legosi shrugged, sipping his own milk."They don't look too scary to me. They remind me of regular reptiles."

"They have wings Legosi! And they breathe fire!"

Legosi's eyebrows raised. "Really?"

"That's what I've heard. I didn't think dragons still existed. They weren't mentioned at all in my history class, even when we learned about the dinosaurs."

"I think we should go and say hi." Jack almost choked on his tofu, coughing slightly, and looked at Legosi incredulously. "What's wrong? I don't think they're gonna breathe fire at us just because we introduce ourselves."

'_Legosi, you can be way too brave sometimes.' _Jack thought. After Legosi came back with a furcut and white fur, he's changed, and not just physically. He was no longer the demure introverted wolf he once was. He was still awkward at times, but seemed more bold, confident, and social. Like he was maturing at a faster rate all of a sudden. With a worried undertone and even droopier ears, Jack relented, "Just be careful Legosi."

Legosi began to gather his food tray in his hands. "Aren't you coming with me?"

"Oh! Ah, of course! I'm right behind ya!" Jack mustered as genuine a grin as he could, a complete turn around from his previous anxiety. But as he stood with his tray along with Legosi, he couldn't help but swallow the lump in his throat and grip his tray just a little tighter. From the corner of his eyes he could see the other students of Cherryton Academy, both herbivore and carnivore, practically stare at them as they realized the two canines were heading straight for the two new students. Jack decided to focus on Legosi's back, his tall figure obscuring his view ahead. He took a deep breath and sighed, trying to release his nervousness in one full breath. '_I've got Legosi with me,' _he thought confidently. '_If Legosi can be fearless like this, then so can I.'_

Straightening up and perking his floppy ears forward to appear more assertive, he tried to slow his thumping heart as he stepped from behind Legosi to stand beside him and face the dragons. '_I can do this!' _"Can we eat with you guys?" he croaked with as friendly a grin as he could muster. He hoped he wasn't trying too hard.

His eyes made contact with the male dragon first. At least, he assumed it was a male. He looked big from a distance, but was huge upclose, comparable to a bear even when sitting. He was even taller than Legosi it seemed, and definitely taller than Jack. His yellow eyes seemed to bore into Jack's, freezing him, but his teal scales almost seemed to glitter in the artificial light of the cafeteria. His whole face and head were covered in white scales, and there were two white curving horns on either side of his head that reminded him of a bighorn sheep, yet several smaller ones were peppered along his forehead. Teal scales transitioned into gold once they reached his wings, which were folded tightly against his body so he could fit into the booth. Jack mentally noted that he'd never seen such a color combination on an animal before.

He was broken out of his daze when the dragon suddenly smiled and his hard slitted eyes turned soft with the pupils turning into circles. "Of course! Pull up a chair fellow canines."

'_Fellow canines?' _Jack thought confusedly. He grabbed an empty chair from nearby, which was easy considering no one was sitting to eat around them. He settled next to Legosi, who, unlike himself, seemed more curious than afraid.

"My name is Legosi, and I'm a gray wolf." He gestured, "This is my friend Jack, he's a labrador."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," the other dragon replied, most definitely a female by her voice. She extended her hand across the table towards Legosi for a handshake, giving Jack a chance to get a good look at her. She also had yellow eyes like her partner, but her scale coloration was much darker. She had purple scales all over her body except for her wings, which were completely black. She had two black horns on either side of her head as well, smaller than the male's, but curvier, almost extending more sideways than upwards. Her body was much smaller than her counterpart, but still seemed taller than the two canines. Her scales didn't shine as much as the other dragon's, but her eyes seemed to glow against the darker backdrop of her face. Jack was sure if they weren't in such a friendly setting, they would have been intimidating.

Legosi shook her hand confidently, as did Jack. Smiling softly, she said "My name is Muru."

"And I'm Sriracha," the male spoke up, also smiling and exchanging a handshake. "We're both dragons obviously."

"Are you siblings?" Jack asked, feeling more at ease as time passed.

"Ah, more like cousins," Muru replied. "We just moved here from our homeland a few days ago, so we're still getting settled in."

"You're the first students who've approached us and said hello," Sriracha added. "I think they're scared of us."

"Ah, they'll get used to you," Legosi said. "I didn't have a whole lot of students wanting to approach me either, but I have a bunch of friends now, so I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"That's good to know," Muru expressed. "Despite us being reptiles, dragons are actually pretty social. Of course we like to be amongst our own kind, but we definitely don't mind mingling with others."

"So what do you two have for lunch?" Sriracha asked curiously, eyeing their trays.

"Oh, barbeque tofu and boiled eggs with some MaiMai milk," Jack answered. He looked at his almost empty tray sadly, recalling how he devoured his meal because of his anxiety just a few minutes ago. "I'm almost out though."

"You can have mine," Muru offered, pushing her tray towards him. "I'm not hungry, I already ate some food I brought with me for lunch. I was just curious to see how tofu tastes, I've never had it before we came here."

"Really?" Legosi asked, surprised. "You've never had tofu?"

"No," Sriracha took a bite of his own. "It tastes ok though. We have other plants we used in cooking, and soy just isn't a staple crop where we're from. We also ate insects to supplement too." As Sriracha stopped eating to reach around and rummage through his book bag underneath the table, Jack glanced at Legosi to see his reaction. He knew about Legosi's liking for collecting insects, but he didn't know if he'd be offended that someone admitted to eating them. Thankfully, Legosi didn't seem upset at all. In fact, he was even smiling slightly and seemed to be enjoying the conversation.

'_I need to stop overreacting,' _Jack thought to himself as the teal dragon sat back up with a small paper bag in his hand. '_We just met and they're being nice, they're friendly, and they're sharing food like it's no big deal. I guess they're not as bad as I thought they were.' _Before the guilt of premature judgement could well up in him, a tempting scent wafted through the air, catching his attention. Even Legosi seemed super interested, noses twitching as they both focused on the small paper bag from where the smell was emitting. "What is that?" the gray wolf asked.

Sriracha smirked. "Smells good doesn't it? And I know what you're thinking, and no, it's not meat." He set the bag on the table, opened it, reached in, and pulled out a light brown sphere. "Where we're from, we call this Kui. It's made up of a variety of protein-packed vegetables and grains, a small bit of sea moss for vitamins and minerals, and it's sat in a mixture of seasonings overnight, then smoked for a few hours. It's the smoking effect that creates the enticing smell. It looks plain, but it's delicious." He placed the brown ball between his large hands and dug his claws in gently to break it in half. He offered the canines one half each. "Would you like to try it?"

"Yes, thank you!" The canine duo accepted almost simultaneously, tails wagging as they only took a second to sniff the Kui before stuffing it in their mouths. A second later, their tails were practically blurs as they reveled in the smoky, salty taste.

"It's so good!" Jack said happily, ready to burst into joyful tears. He'd never tasted anything so delicious in his life! Even the tastiest cafeteria food could never measure up.

"Mff defffnitely!" Legosi added with a full mouth before swallowing. "Sorry, most definitely. Do they sell those anywhere in the city?"

"Not that we know of," Muru answered. "We usually just make them if we can get the supplies. Like I said, we've only been here a few days, so we don't know where everything is here."

All traces of nervousness now gone, the usual happy-go-lucky Jack offers, "_We_ can show you around!"

"We can?" Legosi echoed, wiping the remaining crumbs from his white chin fur.

"Yep! I'm pretty sure I'm free tomorrow since it's Saturday, what about you Legosi?"

"I, uh, have to take care of my ailing grandfather remember?" Legosi scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "It's an all day thing really. It's pretty important, ya know?"

"That's fine Legosi," Jack felt a little deflated. "How long will you have to take care of him?"

"Oh, not for long. I can't give an exact time frame, but it won't be forever. I'll find time to hang out after school, I promise."

"I think Jack will suffice for now," Sriracha interjected helpfully. "Besides, taking care of the elderly is like a fulltime job. It's definitely admirable of you to take on that responsibility, especially so young. Most animals would've put them in a nursing home or something."

"Yeah, Legosi is a pretty good wolf," Jack said proudly. "I'm glad he's my best friend. And now we have two new friends." '_Wow, these guys are pretty nice. I got some tasty food _and _some new friends. The rest of the day and tomorrow is gonna be great!'_

"Make that three." As soon as he heard the voice, Jack had to suppress a groan. Pina was the most annoying herbivore he'd ever met, and now here he was butting in with those big horns of his. He was normally just your typical happy-go-lucky labrador, but Pina was a special case that seemed to make him as irritable as a flea he couldn't get rid of.

'_Probably because he saw it was safe to approach since we're here.'_ Jack thought to himself while he tried to ignore Pina's egotistic grin. Pina pulled up a chair across from Muru and next to Legosi, introducing himself to the large, curious dragons. He extended his hand, "My name is Pina, I'm a dall sheep."

"Muru," she expressed with a bright smile.

"Sriracha, nice to meet you Pina."

"My," Pina started, "what big hands you have. You're pretty big for a carnivore." Indeed, the size between his hands and Sriracha's was evident. If he wanted, the dragon could envelope Pina's whole hand in his own like an adult could do to a child.

'_Idiot, why would you say that?' _Jack was getting irritated more and more. Luckily Sriracha seemed to take it as a complement.

"Thank you! You're a decent size yourself," he returned.

"You're the most handsome herbivore I've ever seen," Muru complimented while placing her chin on her hands and smiling. "Jack's floppy ears are pretty cute, but I like your horns too. They make you look regal."

Jack was glad his fur could mask his blushing face, and Pina looked slightly shocked as if he didn't expect her to compliment him like that. He'd never been flattered by a carnivore before.

"Thanks," Jack said sheepishly, wiggling his floppy ears, "you really think they're-"

"I like your horns too," Pina interrupted, focusing on Muru with that charming smile, but to Jack it just looked cocky. He glanced at Legosi, who was trying to maintain that same air of friendliness, but Jack could tell Pina's presence was bugging him too. "So, you two need some help getting to know the city? Maybe I can be of assistance."

"Jack and I already volunteered," Legosi interjected.

"Really? I thought you had a full schedule, between school and caring for your grandfather," Pina said smoothly. "Surely those are too important to set aside?"

"I can make time if I prioritize," Legosi replied, finishing the rest of his tofu.

"Alright then," Pina dismissed flatly, then turned to the dragons, Muru in particular. "Muru, Sriracha, have you joined any clubs in the school yet?"

"Not yet, we're still looking," Sriracha answered. "We haven't joined any clubs before."

"Are you part of a club Pina?" Muru asked. She leaned forward a bit and ruffled her wings, focusing on Pina with eyes that seemed to glow.

"I just joined the drama club, and I like it so far." Legosi cast Pina a sideways glare at that. Jack remembered when Legosi mentioned that Pina wasn't really interested in the drama club itself. He'd only joined to get girls and get more attention by being on stage, which in turn helped him attract more girls. "You should join too. You look like the perfect type to be on stage."

"Really?" Muru glanced downwards bashfully. "I've never thought about acting before, let alone being on stage."

"_I'm_ in the drama club too," Legosi added before sipping his milk. "I help with the stage crew, but I've acted on stage before too. I haven't been in any other club, but I enjoy the drama club."

"I think it's a great idea that you join," Sriracha agreed, reaching underneath to grab another Kui ball. "That way, you'll be in a club where you have two animals there to help you with anything and answer your questions."

"That, and you have beautiful scales," Pina added charmingly. "I bet if the stage lights hit them just right, you'd look like a star."

Jack's jaw-dropped, he couldn't help it. Legosi's fox-like face seemed to be in an equal state of shock. Pina had taken to flirting with a freakin dragon! '_Does he have no limits on what girl he'll try to get with?!' _Jack thought to himself. While he liked the idea of Muru having Legosi there to show her the ropes in the drama club, he did _not _like the idea of Pina also being there attempting to womanize her. She was his new friend after all, and Jack wanted to make sure that her first experience with a Cherryton Academy herbivore wasn't being dragged in the mud by a sheep who couldn't even remember her name weeks later. '_And what about her cousin?'_ Jack looked at Sriracha across from him, who only smirked while taking a bite of Kui. He didn't interject at all, he only watched Pina and Muru's interaction with a glint of humor in his eye. '_Does he approve of this?'_

Muru giggled and grinned, showing her sharp teeth. "That's sweet of you. If you're available after classes today, could you show me how to sign up?"

"Of course," Pina welcomed the offer. "I can meet you outside the door of your last class today and we'll speak to San. He's a pelican, and the director of the drama club."

"Great! I'll see you then Pina." Muru grabbed her bookbag from underneath the table, then scooted out from the booth before standing to full height. Jack, Legosi and Pina could now see her tail, which had two purple-colored flukes near the pointed tip on either end, extending another six feet behind her. "I like to get to class a little early, I'm still getting used to navigating the school."

"I can walk you if you'd like." Pina was already by her side, her height easily dwarfing his. Still, he offered, "I can carry your bag too."

"Sure," she chuckled. She gave him her bag, and he grunted at first under its weight. He straightened quickly though, and gave her his signature charmful look. One could practically see the sparkles manifest around his face. Muru, however, didn't seem to fall for his charm as easily. Instead of gushing at him like Jack had seen other girls do, she simply smirked. "Lead the way."

* * *

"I just want to warn you, before things get bad, that Pina is a non-redeemable womanizer, so if something happens please don't eat him or burn him to ash," Jack begged Sriracha. The tall dragon laughed a bit and waved it off as they walked to their class now that lunch was over. Legosi had a different classroom than them, but Jack was surprised to find out that he and the dragon had quite a few of the same classes together.

"There's one in every school I suppose. I wouldn't worry about my cousin too much, she's not as naive as Pina thinks."

"Well, if you're certain she'll be okay," Jack replied. He couldn't help but notice that some of the students were gawking at them, mainly at Sriracha of course, but probably at him too. '_Because I'm not afraid to walk with him.' _He looked up at the 7 ft tall dragon, who continued to walk with back-straight confidence, book bag slung over his shoulder, and eyes not bothering to glance at the passing students that blatantly stared at him. "Are you not… uh, embarrassed by all the staring?"

"They've never seen a dragon before," Sriracha cooly replied. "It's understandable."

Jack chuckled, "They probably think you're going to burn the school down or something." Immediately he tried to apologize, "Don't take it the wrong way-"

"Relax Jack," Sriracha cut him off, "let them think what they want to think, it's of no consequence to me. And it's not like I'm an arsonist or something. Don't worry, if anything bursts into flames it won't be from me. But if you want, I can show you a demonstration sometime."

"Really!?" Jack's eyes shone with excitement, tail wagging to express it. "That'd be so cool!"

"We'd have to find a safe spot of course. Wouldn't want to start an uncontrollable fire."

"Oohh, I can't wait to tell the other canines! Can I invite my other friends too? Then you can meet them as well."

"Well-"

"Oh wait! You'll be heading to your dorm after classes right? We can just meet today!"

Amused at his labrador-esque happiness, Sriracha rubbed Jack's head for a few seconds, especially getting behind the ears. "You're the most expressive canine I've ever met."

"Oh, uhh, thanks," Jack replied, a little ruffled from the head scratch. It had happened so fast he thought Sriracha might scrape the skin off his skull. But he had been surprisingly gentle, even with his claws. And he had to admit, that one rub behind the ears did feel good. '_I hadn't gotten rubbed like that since I last visited my parents.' _

"Sorry, did I offend you?"

"No, no. You uh, give pretty good head rubs. I wouldn't mind…. Getting some more…" Sriracha laughed out loud, loud enough for students to turn and wonder what the heck that labrador said that was so funny.

* * *

"So, can you fly with those wings or are they just for show?" Pina asked. He was trying to distract himself from how tired his arms were getting from carrying the dragon's bookbag. She had also slowed down to allow his shorter stride to catch up to hers. Normally he would dislike the fact that she, a carnivore, slowed down for him, but his steadily burning arms allowed that to slide.

"Hmm," Muru hummed, her tail swishing beneath the frills of her uniform dress. "Both."

"What do you mean?" Pina ignored the shocked looks of a few of the girls he was dating as they were passed in the long hall. Of course, they didn't know that they were all sharing the same guy. Besides, he'd deal with them later.

"Well, I can definitely fly. I'm not as fast as some birds, but I can outmaneuver them like a bat can." They turned a corner and she stopped suddenly. The hallway they were now on was empty. She turned and faced Pina, looking down at him calmly. He met her gaze with the same energy, wondering what she would do. Then she smirked, and her wings unfurled to their complete span of 18 ft. She then grabbed Pina by his shoulders and pulled him close to her, enveloping him in her wings completely. Pina didn't move except for dropping her bag. The sudden darkness caused the heat emitting from her body to feel much more acute, and the only thing he could smell was her unique scent, reptilian and, strangely enough, very minty. He could feel her heartbeat, steady and in contrast to his thudding one. Her arms were wrapped around his body, and he could feel her claws pressed into his back and shoulders. Her breath tickled his ear as she whispered "It's also good for doing this. Have you ever dated a carnivore Pina?"

"No," his voice nearly wavered.

"Don't ever let your guard down around a carnivore. Especially a female." She released him from her wings and arms. He just stood there and watched her stretch her wings out as if finishing from a long flight. She looked even bigger that way, more powerful. She shook them once then folded them to her back again. "Thank you for walking me to class. And carrying my bag of course." She reached to pick it up, but Pina beat her to it. Smiling again, he handed it to her with two hands to support it.

"You're welcome," he said smoothly, as if what had just transpired hadn't happened. "I'll meet you here at the end of the day." Muru took her bag from him, staring at him thoughtfully. Then she smiled back.

"Ok. I'll see you Pina." She entered the classroom only a few steps away, leaving Pina there to process what had just happened. After taking a few deep breaths and slowing his heart rate, he reached over his shoulder and traced the areas where her claws had pressed. Not enough to pierce his flesh, but enough to leave indentions. He'd never had a carnivore do such a thing to him. Many were too afraid to even touch a herbivore too roughly for fear of being accused of attack. And yet, a new student who had developed no rapport with the school, it's staff or students, had acted like she was going to eat him the first day they met.

He was going to be late for class but he didn't care. He couldn't get the memory of her heat and unique scent out of his mind. He didn't know if it's because he liked it or because it was so shocking it was locked in his mind for the moment, but he didn't care about that either. He smirked to himself. '_She wants me.'_

* * *

"Mr. Gouhin? I just want to mention one more thing about today. Besides what's been going on between me and Haru, I met two dragons at school today. My friend and I had lunch with them."

"Two dragons huh?" Gouhin took a drag from his cigarette, exhaling the smoke more deliberately than usual. He stared at Legosi for a moment from the doorframe of the walk-in freezer. The wolf was standing across from the hanging slab of meat, holding his hands against it and staring at with a quiet determination Gouhin hadn't seen in his previous training a week prior. "That's a first for me. Never thought I would see one, and yet you, a damn 17 year old, saw two in one day."

"It was pretty surprising to me too. They seemed friendly, but no one wanted to sit and eat with them."

"From what I've heard they're huge, fire-breathing menaces. Extremely rare too, so rare even photos of them are old. Do you know what they're doing here?"

"I, uh, didn't think to ask about specifics. They said they moved from their homeland recently."

"And what's their homeland called?"

"I didn't think to ask."

Gouhin sighed another trail of smoke. "Dumbass. If you're going to hang around such dangerous creatures, get to know them some more will ya?"

"I will. They're officially friends now," Legosi smiled slightly.

"Already?" Gouhin muttered. "Just like a canine I suppose."

"They also gave me this really tasty food called Kui. Have you ever heard of it?"

"Yes," Gouhin answered, surprising Legosi. "It's completely plant based if I recall correctly. It's also not easy to make because of the ingredients, but it's very nutritious. I've only had it once my entire life."

"Do you think that Kui can help me control my urges?" Gouhin was silent for a few seconds, then replied ambiguously,

"Maybe. We'll see."

"Ok. Also, could you get all of the bodies we used out of the fridge?" Legosi took down the slab of meat from the hook, holding it in his hands. "I know you switched them on a daily basis."

"Why?"

Legosi looked at him squarely. "I want to do something for them. For the herbivores that died."

Gouhin sighed again, but put his cigarette out and walked away to get a knapsack to place all the bodies in. The wolf kid irritated him, but he was curious to see what he had in mind.

A few minutes later the wolf and panda were walking down the street, the sliver of light from the crescent moon above providing just enough light for their predatory eyes to see. They walked along in silence, Gouhin behind the wolf with his hands his pockets, and Legosi in front carrying the knapsack full of aged meat on his back. As the dull roar of beach waves up ahead grew in volume, Gouhin studied the white wolf intently as they stepped onto the sand. He didn't help to gather stones for the dead, nor did Legosi ask him he turned to face the open sea and sky, staring out at it in thought for a few minutes before turning to Legosi to see what he'd done.

Legosi had buried all seven slabs of meat, each topped with a pointed tombstone with names on them. "Hey, you- How do you know all seven of those names?" Gouhin asked a little angrily.

"Oh, well, you told me that I should buy my own meat, so whenever I bought meat, I would ask the shop on info on the animals while they were still alive. If there were shops that couldn't tell me anything, I would go to hospitals and funeral homes for info. That's why I've been late to training… sorry." Legosi turned to half way face the tombstones and pointed to one of them. "Mr. Joel was single. He was a popular customer in a bar he went to on weekends." He pointed to another. "Ms. Linda worked part-time at a convenience store and still gave her daughter an allowance." Gouhin hummed, but said no more. Legosi continued, "Since their bodies were in the Back-Alley Market, they probably didn't live completely happy lives, but-" The sucker punch should have caught him unawares, but he reacted instantly. Gouhin's right fist was firmly gripped in his left hand. Though there was definitely power coming behind it, Legosi had caught it almost as if it were second nature.

Gouhin smirked, lowering his fist. "You've got what it takes Legosi. You've cleared the first stage." Legosi looked confused at first, then realization dawned on him and he smiled softly. "However, I need you to do one more thing as part of your training."

"Hmm? What's that?"

Gouhin pulled out another cigarette, his last one for the night. He spoke as he lit it, "Ask that male dragon, Sriracha I think you said, if he will be your sparring partner as well."

"What?" Legosi looked genuinely confused. "Why? I've just met him, would he agree to something like that?"

"From what I've heard about dragons, they all know how to fight professionally starting from a young age. It's a guarantee he can teach you a thing or two, considering he's been on this earth almost the same time as me."

"But that's impossible, he's the same age as me I think. But he's a third year, which is strange."

"It's not strange. He's probably smart as hell, and he's actually twice your age, dragons just age slower. They couldn't put 34 on the school paperwork, so they put down the equivalent, which would be 17."

"Wow." Legosi looked out across the sea. "He didn't tell me that."

"You didn't ask dumbass." Legosi had to keep his eyes from rolling as Gouhin smoked his final cigarette. "If he's as friendly as you say, then he'll say yes. If he says no, I'll just make your training more intense to compensate."

Legosi sighed, but relented, "Alright. I'll ask him tomorrow. Goodnight Mr. Gouhin."

"See you tomorrow," the panda replied. He stayed long after Legosi left, smoking and basking in the calmness of the ocean waves. It was the first time he'd felt this at peace in a long time. '_And it's not gonna last.' _

* * *

Legosi continued to wait patiently at the small square table, sipping every so often at his carton of milk. He looked out the window that was level with the bare trees of winter. He expressed his thanks to whatever natural powers there were that the same clear sky as last night was there that morning. With his all white coloring and thinner fur, keeping warm when it snowed might be a challenge for him.

'_I wonder how dragons do in the cold,' _he thought. '_I know most reptiles prefer to avoid it when possible. And they tend to get sleepy too.' _He cemented in his mind that he would ask Sriracha when he arrived. Legosi himself had gotten to the cafe early. He looked at his watch. It was almost time. That gave him a few more minutes to figure out how he was gonna ask the dragon to be his sparring partner.

"Good morning." Legosi almost jumped when a firm hand came on his shoulder. He looked up and there was Sriracha, tall, imposing and smiling. His yellow eyes didn't seem as intimidating now as when they first met, they even sparkled with good humor. He was wearing a simple red long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Legosi smiled back and returned, "Good morning. Thanks again for coming to meet me. I know we've just met."

Sriracha slid into the seat, and he placed his cup of coffee and a brown paper bag on the table between them. "No worries. I just met Jack too, but he was eager to show me to his fellow canines after classes last night. We had a good time. I brought you some more Kui since you seemed to like it so much."

"Ah, thanks!" Legosi reached for the bag, ready to dig in, then paused. "Um, I need to ask you something before I take it though. Well, I've got a few questions actually."

"Hmm?" Sriracha drunk his coffee without even blowing on it to cool it down. Judging by the steam rising from it, it was still piping hot. But the dragon didn't even flinch.

"Um, where exactly are you from? You just said you were out of town."

"I'm from a small country in the Southeast hemisphere, called Dracane. It has the most concentrated population of dragons in the world." He took another sip of coffee. "This is good by the way. You should try some, very warming."

"That brings me to my next question actually," Legosi took the brown bag and pulled the Kui out, his mouth watering as the smoky smell wafted to his nostrils. "How do dragons handle the cold?"

"Well," Sriracha thought out loud. "It is true we prefer warmer climates, but we can live in places where the winters are harsher." He gestured to himself. "As you can see, I'm just wearing a shirt and jeans. No coat, hat, scarves or gloves. That's because my ability to breathe fire keeps my body at a certain temperature."

"Hmm," Legosi took a bite of the Kui, then sipped his milk. "That's cool."

"Jack said the same thing," Sriracha leaned back in the chair, one arm around the top of it. "Any other questions?"

"Will you be my sparring partner?"

Sriracha cocked his head and set his coffee down. Leaning forward slightly, he asked, "Why?"

Legosi decided to be honest. "I'm training myself to be strong without eating meat. But I also want to learn how to fight properly. I need to learn how to do this in order to fight the criminal that murdered a student before you arrived. He was an herbivore named-"

"Tem. I remember seeing that in the newspaper." There was silence for a few moments, then he asked "Do you know who the killer is?"

"Not yet, but I'm on his trail. I think he's a male, a mammal, and he goes to our school."

"How do you know that?"

"I, uh, well. He attacked me one night and I managed to see how his teeth felt. I know a reptile's teeth are even, and a mammal's are uneven. His fangs were also large, which means he was a male."

"You couldn't smell him?"

"I was sick and my nose was stuffy."

"Hmm." The dragon downed the rest of his coffee. "And what's in it for me?"

'_Damn it, I didn't think about that.' _

"And what happens if you get seriously hurt? How do I know you're not going to blame me for it and get me in trouble?"

"For the second question, I promise I won't tell on you. You have my word that I'll take responsibility for any injuries I get."

"...Ok."

'_He doesn't believe me,' _Legosi thought flatly, but continued. "As for the first, what do you want from me?"

"Hmm." Srirachi's eyes traveled around the cafe, taking stock of every inhabitant. Most of them quickly averted their eyes when he caught them staring. "I haven't been in a good scuffle in a while." He looked back to Legosi. "If the murderer you speak of is as you described, then he's big. Realistically, you may not be able to handle him alone, especially if you don't eat meat. Obviously this guy has no problems eating it, and will likely continue to eat it. That means he's very strong as well. If you find out who it is, I want to help you fight him. And kill him."

Legosi glanced around him to see if the other patrons of the cafe overheard. It seemed like they were far enough away they didn't hear what was said. "Ok-"

"And then I want to eat him. You don't have to of course. But we do need to dispose of the body afterwards so we aren't caught. Plus it's not cordial to leave a dead body out in the street."

"What? You, want to eat him? But he's a carnivore."

"Reptiles typically don't care about having a particular kind of meat. Us dragons are no different." Srirachi leaned forward even more, causing Legosi to get closer as well. The dragon's yellow eyes bore into his own unblinkingly. "And this is a murderer we're talking about. If you still feel sympathy for whatever happens to someone who could kill their own fellow student in cold blood when there are other ways to get meat, I can't trust you when the time comes. You could change your mind in the midst of the fight, right before making a final blow, and end up dying for it. I can tell you've never been in a real fight for your life before. It's unlike anything you've ever experienced." He leaned back and sighed. "However, if you're committed to going all the way without hesitation, then I will help you all the way. But if you hesitate in the fight for sympathetic reasons, I won't save you."

Legosi nodded firmly. "I understand completely, and I agree to your proposal. So we have a deal?"

"Yes." The two carnivores shook on it. "When do you want to start?"

"Tonight, if possible."

"Tonight? What time tonight?"

"Um, how about 6?"

Sriracha took out his cellphone and fingered through it. "Ok. I'll let Muru know I'll be out at that time. And if I'm going to be training you essentially, I want to choose a place where we won't be interrupted or spied on. There's a clearing on the edge of the city we can go to. I'll text you the coordinates for it and you can put it in your phone's GPS. Could you give me your number?"

"Sure." Legosi recited his phone number and quickly received the text. "Hey, if you've only been here a few days and you don't know the city that well, how did you know about that clearing?"

"I'll tell you after we defeat this criminal." That immediately made Legosi suspicious, but Sriracha didn't lie to him either. He realized that he was putting his trust in a rare animal that no one hardly knew about, and was going to a place no one went too often either. If Sriracha wanted to, he could kill him at the clearing and dispose of Legosi's body and belongings. No one would ever find out.

'_But why would he kill me? That's like asking why someone would kill Tem. He did say meat was meat…' _

"Alright, it's settled. I'll see you tonight then?"

"Yeah." Legosi agreed. Sriracha nodded and stood up, smiling again.

"Have a good day in the meantime Legosi. Be safe." He then made his way across the cafe and out the door, customers quickly stepping aside to allow his passage. Legosi sighed and looked at his watch. He figured he'd better relax and get some rest before tonight. And finish up homework of course.

* * *

"Pina, I appreciate all of this, but you don't have to pay for all this food. I have money." Muru, who wore a sky blue turtleneck with a matching wavy skirt, looked down at all the plates full of food that was covering their table. While the brunch certainly looked delicious, it didn't come without a price. She'd seen the menu and it wasn't cheap. Pina didn't look concerned however, and smiled that charming goat smile of his.

"A pretty dragon such as yourself doesn't need to worry about something like that. Trust me, I don't spend money I don't have." He grabbed a slice of french toast from one of the plates that was piled with them. "I thought you'd have a big appetite, but I can definitely help you finish this if you'd like."

"Thank you. I think I might take some back to the dorm though, if that's okay."

"Of course! I'll be glad it won't go to waste." Pina took a bite of his french toast, thoroughly enjoying the taste of the expensive bread, as well as how the natural light from the restaurant window caused Muru's scales to gleam. Since his near scare that took place the day prior (he wouldn't admit he was actually scared), he planned on taking Muru out to eat the next day. As promised, he'd walked with her to the Drama club room after classes were over, to speak to San. The pelican went on to rave about having two new students in his club, a wolf and a dragon no less! He even expressed his surprise at Pina's willingness to put in the effort to bring new members, and though the sheep wanted to insult him for it, he held his tongue and took it gracefully. Afterwards he basked in the blatant shock of his fellow students, herbivore and carnivore alike, as he asked Muru if she wanted to eat out the next day, and she'd accepted. So he was in a pretty good mood today.

He watched her take a few tentative bites that turned into more confident ones as she realized how tasty the food was. He watched her clear one plate, then two before she offered him a blueberry muffin. "This is really good, try it!"

He took it from her and bit into it. It was just as delicious as he thought it'd be. '_That's why I chose this place. Can't go taking someone as rare and powerful as a dragon to some cheap coffee shop.' _They were at a more higher-end restaurant that served full course meals as well as breakfast and brunch. The customers were also a bit less nosy and tended to stare less. Probably because they wanted to focus on their own expensive meals. '_It would also be annoying if I ran into any of my other girls. They definitely don't frequent here I'm sure.' _""It is good," he stated, eating the rest of it and spilling some crumbs on his wool. Before he could grab a napkin to wipe it off, Muru reached across with her long arm and used her claws to swiftly yet gently remove them.

"You had some crumbs on your wool there."

Unfazed, Pina simply smiled. "Thank you."

She smiled back. "You're welcome. You know, I haven't told you much about where I'm from." She sipped her fruit & veggie juice mixture. "You're probably curious. My cousin and I come from a small country called Dracane. We grew up there pretty much our whole lives, though we traveled every so often. We've never been this far northwest though."

"What brought you here? Just education?"

"Partly. We've been isolated from the world for a long time. So our country thought it was finally time to mingle with the rest of the world. And considering the fact that Cherryton Academy is an elite school, they wanted to start, um, at the top I guess you could say."

"Are you aiming to become a beastar?"

"Oh, no. I'm more interested in the medical field. What about you?"

"I'm not really beastar material. I'm too free-spirited I suppose."

Muru smirked and took a bite out of another piece of food before replying. "Yes, I've heard how much of a lady killer you are."

"The rumors are exaggerated greatly, I assure you."

"I bet they are. I'm not upset though. In my country, monogamy is as rare as polygamy is here. Of course the males can't just sleep around and not take care of the children they make, but it's pretty much the norm there. Monogamy was just implemented to control the population, that's all."

"Heh, try explaining that to the girl's here."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find someone who understands. There's more dall sheep than dragons in the world. Perhaps traveling will do you good, and you'll find what you're looking for."

"No one's ever told me that before. I'll definitely take that into consideration. Not only are you pretty, you have great ideas as well."

Muru grinned. "You never run out of compliments do you?"

Pina just smirked and drank some veggie juice. "Only if they're genuine."

They ate in a comfortable silence after that, Muru finishing off the pastries,flour-based foods and juicier fruits, like grapes and cantaloupe. She left the vegetables and only ate a few of the eggs. Pina took a mental note to remember that she prefers pastries and juicy fruits. After a few minutes passed, Muru pulled out her cellphone and began texting.

"I think I might get this to go. I'm supposed to be meeting with Sriracha and Jack in a few minutes." She waved a nearby waiter over, a male red-ruffed lemur, and asked for a to-go box. The waiter bowed and left to retrieve one. "Thank you for showing me around and taking me here. I had a good time."

"That's great to hear," Pina replied, drinking the rest of his veggie juice. When the waiter returned with the box, he told him "Put this all on my tab."

"And here's your tip." Muru pulled out some bills and handed it to the waiter, who thanked her graciously. Pina couldn't see exactly how much it was, but when the waiter saw it, his eyes widened and he bowed deeply, expressing another bout of thanks to the dragon before walking away.

"How much did you give him?" Pina asked. "Just out of curiosity."

Muru smirked as she loaded what food remained into the to-go box. "Don't worry about it. Just know I like to be generous when I can. Also, I apologize for scaring you yesterday at school. I was just messing with you, but it won't happen again."

"No need to apologize, it was good advice. I admire your boldness though, not many carnivores would've done that so openly." They stood up and Pina walked with her out of the restaurant. The air was cold and crisp. Luckily his wool kept him warm, and he only needed a light jacket. Muru was dressed lightly, but didn't even shiver when the wind blew. Pina guessed her fire-breathing ability kept her warm enough. Across the street he could see Jack and Sriracha walking toward the crosswalk. The labrador was busy pointing this way and that, talking a mile a minute and tail wagging happily. He wore a light brown, zipped up coat and jeans, while Sriracha had on a red long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans. They hadn't seen them yet, and Pina figured it was time to take his leave. He realized early on he preferred one on one activities, especially with girls. He turned to Muru and took one of her large hands in his. "Thank you for agreeing to go out with me this afternoon. I look forward to seeing you Monday." He raised her hand and bent his head to plant a kiss on her knuckles. Then he turned on his heel and walked away, a smug look on his handsome sheep face as he passed other shocked civilians who were trying to process what they'd just seen. Muru lowered her hand slowly, replaying what Pina had said to her.

"Did he say go out?"

"Muru! Hey Muru!" Jack's voice broke through her stupor as he bounded over to her excitedly. "We found you! Did you get some food too?"

"Um, yes, I just finished eating breakfast. I've got plenty left, you can have some once we find a place to get settled." She ignored Sriracha's smirk. He probably saw what happened between her and Pina, and Jack had missed it.

"Really? Thanks, you guys are always sharing good food!" Jack waved them over, "Follow me, I know a nice park nearby with a lake, a walking trail and tables to eat at. I was just telling Sriracha about it."

* * *

"Finally," Muru sighed as she followed Sriracha into their shared dorm room. "I feel like we've been out all day."

"It's only been a few hours," Sriracha replied as he sat on the bottom bunk bed. "I still have a couple more hours to create a training slash sparring plan for Legosi before I meet him tonight."

Muru set down her shoulder bag on the dresser and walked over to the window that overlooked the school grounds. There were various students walking around, some studying, some in groups just hanging out, others were couples kissing and cuddling. "So he's serious about becoming stronger without eating meat?"

"Yes." Sriracha reached underneath the bunk bed, rummaging around for something. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but he agreed to let me eat the criminal and take the body. Plus I'll be there to make sure he doesn't die."

"Well, as much as I'd love to see that fight, I'm going to continue to get to know the other students and staff in the meantime. Especially this tiger named Bill. I only met him briefly yesterday, but I caught a hint of blood on his breath. It was faint but it was there. I want to know where he's getting it from, then maybe we won't have to eat Kui everyday."

"Do you think he's the culprit?"

"I don't know. I can see if I can find that out for you." Muru looked over to see Sriracha sitting up with two items in either hand. One was a Kui ball, the other was a red condiment bottle with the label "Red Sauce" stuck across it.

Her cousin offered, "Would you like some?"

"No," Muru declined, "I'm full from this morning. Just save me some of the sauce if you can." Sriracha nodded and squirted some of the thick, scarlett sauce on the Kui ball, covering the top of it before biting the top half and swallowing. He continued until the Kui was gone, then returned the bottle underneath the bed. Licking the crumbs from his maw, he reached in his pocket and pulled out an almost empty tin of mints.

After he upended the remaining contents into his mouth, he said to Muru, "Also, when you have some free time, please buy some more mints, probably a few of them. Get the extra strong kind, even Jack couldn't smell the blood, and I've heard dog's have a great sense of smell."


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2 Control Yourself By Being Yourself**

Despite spring being only a few months away, night still came early over Japan as the winter wore on. Sunset had been an hour ago, and now the two carnivores, Legosi and Sriracha, stood facing each other about twelve feet apart, eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Have you ever sparred with anyone before?" the dragon asked. Legosi shook his head. "Then we'll start with the basics. The first rule is no lethal attacks. You can act as if you're going for a lethal move-" Suddenly the dragon rushed forward with a right hook. Legosi hesitated for a split second before barely catching the fist in his hand, but as soon as he made contact he realized he was staring at claw tips, a finger aimed at each eye and curved to gouge. "-but you need to develop enough control not to follow through. However, practicing the movements will help you gain muscle memory that can help you in a real fight." Sriracha lowered his hands and backed away to the same distance as in the beginning. "Second rule, have a safe word. Since I don't talk much when fighting, we can keep it simple and use the word Stop. It helps to make sure that if things get too difficult, one animal can let the other know, and the sparring is over for the time being. Also, that right hook I sent was a feint. I think you realized it later, but by that time it was too late. You were too focused on one arm. In a real fight, your eyes would've been gouged out, then without your sight and being in a great deal of pain, I could take you down. Depending on who you fight, your opponent may not be that tactful. However, we're training mainly for the animal who attacked you and ate Tem. He's probably a tactful one, considering the fact that he hasn't gone crazy and he hasn't been caught yet."

"I think so too," Legosi replied. "He was stalking me before he attacked me, and knew I couldn't smell him because I was sick."

"That means he pays attention to detail. As should you. What could you have done besides catch my fist?"

"Well, that was my first instinct, but I guess I could've blocked it or dodged it."

"Yes and no." At Legosi's confused look he continued, "It depends on who you're fighting. If you're stronger or as strong as your opponent, you can probably block it safely. But if your opponent is stronger, blocking it could break your arm or knock you off balance. In that instance, it would be better to dodge." Sriracha rushed him again, but this time Legosi was ready. He sidestepped to the left, avoiding another hook, but Sriracha spun on his heel as he passed Legosi, swinging his long tail around and using it to hit the wolf in the abdomen. The breath was knocked out of him as he was sent back a couple of feet, but he managed to keep his balance and not fall. Sriracha turned and faced him, arms crossed. "You're forgetting natural weapons. Besides my tail, what else do you have to look out for?"

"You're claws, teeth, horns, wings, and fire." Sriracha nodded.

"But that's not all. In reality, the entire body can be a natural weapon. I can knee you, hit you with my elbow, headbutt you, punch, kick, slam you, choke you. The point is, look at your entire opponent as a whole. Obviously most are going to rely on things like claws and teeth, but if those things aren't available or aren't working, they're going to try everything they can to defeat you. What you do have going for you is your speed and agility." He smiled. "And by the way, good catch with the fire, but I won't be using it. That's advanced, and the criminal probably won't have a blowtorch with him when you fight, so don't worry about that yet."

"Noted." Legosi had caught his breath now, and had his fists raised with a confident smirk. "I'm ready now."

Sriracha chuckled, crouching low with legs shoulder length apart, tail swishing excitedly. "Don't let your guard down."

**/**

* * *

Legosi was lying on his back, chest heaving. Despite the night's chill, he was sweaty and hot from sparring for 2 hours with only a minute's rest. It had been easy at first, well, easier, but as they went on, it became increasingly harder. Sriracha began to get faster, stronger, and despite no lethal moves, Legosi still sustained minor scratches, both from claws and from skidding on the ground. He was sure there were some bruises as well, the dragon's scales seeming to protect Sriracha like chainmail or something of the like.

"I think we can call it a night." From his standing position, Sriracha extended a hand to help Legosi to his feet. Once he was up, he continued, "I know you think you didn't do a good job, but it's your first time, so don't be too upset about it. You definitely have improved more than when we first started. The best thing to do after every sparring session is going over in your head what you could've done better. Visualize as realistically as possible how you wanted the fight to go, how you could've moved your body, how you would counter, block, and so on. You seem like the type to daydream a lot, so that might be helpful."

Legosi rolled his shoulders and nodded. He was definitely going to be sore in the morning. Thank goodness it was Saturday; he could sleep in and relax his muscles. "I'll be sure to do that. Thanks for tonight, I really learned a lot. Same time tomorrow?"

"Sure. Is this going to be an everyday thing?"

"That's what I was hoping."

"You sure have some determination in you." Sriracha picked up his shoulder bag off the ground, looked through it and pulled out his phone. "Do you think your body can handle that?"

"Yes," the wolf replied without hesitation, ears forward. "I know I may look skinny and weak because of my short fur, but I can handle it."

"Alright then." Sriracha walked over next to Legosi. "Since we're both going back to the school, I think we should walk together. More strength in numbers in case the killer is stalking you again." Legosi agreed, and the duo began their walk back to the school dorms.

Their walk was mostly silent, however when they reached the school building, Legosi turned to the dragon. "Hey, how do you control your predator instincts?"

"What do you mean?"

Legosi looked down guiltily. "One time, I almost lost control. It was the first time something like that had ever happened to me. Ever since then, it's like there's this beast inside of me that I have to fight to keep down. I know some predators handle it in different ways, but most of them involve eating meat or drinking the blood of an herbivore. Isn't there another way?"

Sriracha just stared at him for a moment before responding, "You're the first predator I've met who's asked me that." He sighed and looked up the moon while he spoke. "I suppose one way to do it is to channel it at the right time."

"I did do that once," Legosi recalled fighting with the Alpha Lion some time ago. "I managed to save someone I cared about. But it still tries to manifest itself when I don't want it to."

"I think you're problem is that you have a hard time accepting everything that comes with being a gray wolf." He looked back to Legosi. "Everyone has traits that others may think is good or bad. Wolves tend to be social, like to protect those they care about, are brave, loyal, and adventerous. They can also be dominant, aggressive, overly fearful, and hedonistic. Some may think bravery is good, but it can be stupid if you end up in a bad situation. Some may some aggression is bad, but it's needed if you're protecting someone or yourself from an attack. And if wolves didn't have all those traits, you wouldn't even be alive right now. Things weren't always as they've been now."

Sriracha began to walk to the building door to open it. "Embrace who you are Legosi. You came to be a wolf for a reason. It might be to kill, to protect, or both. But you won't be able to do it properly if you hate who you were born to be."

**/**

* * *

Bill the Bengal Tiger had just finished cleaning up the Drama club room. With Louis gone and Legosi no longer being there in the evenings, he's had to take charge and do extra work; that included staying behind and to make sure things were put up properly. But to his ire, it took him a lot longer than he thought it would, so long he even had to cancel his evening date with his tigress girlfriend.

He sighed. She had bitched about it like he knew she would, but he promised her he would make it up to her tomorrow evening. '_Hopefully she forgives me enough to give me some tigress booty.'_

"Excuse me." The voice startled him. It was an empty, fairly dark hallway he was going along. And although his senses were enhanced by the lack of light, he hadn't heard the footsteps of the female that was walking towards him from behind. He turned and recognized the unmistakable figure of one of the new students, the dragoness. Her yellow irises glowed, but her demeanor was submissive. She stopped in front of him and held her hands behind her back. The way she looked now, Bill didn't feel as intimidated by her, despite having to look up slightly at her. At least she wasn't a veritable giant like the male dragon. "Your name was Bill, right? I think we met briefly when Pina brought me to the Drama club yesterday."

"Oh, yeah! I,uh, don't recall your name unfortunately," Bill replied sheepishly.

"That's ok, we only just met. My name is Muru. If I could ask, why are you out so late?"

"Well,it's not _too_ late." He looked at the time on his cell phone. "It's only 8 or so. What are _you _doing?"

"I was hoping I'd run into you actually. I went to the feline's dorm, but a panther told me you were still in the Drama room cleaning up, so I came here."

Bill smiled confidently. "Well, I'm flattered you're smitten with me already, but unfortunately I already have a girlfriend. We can still be close friends though; I wouldn't worry about Pina, he can't commit to one girl if his life depended on it."

Muru hummed and replied, "I don't know what Pina's been saying around the school, but we most assuredly are not together in anyway. He did treat me to breakfast, but I only accepted because he was paying and I don't turn down good food. Speaking of food, I can smell it on you."

"What?" His smile turned into a look of confusion. "The last I ate was a few hours ago."

"No," she stepped closer, closer than he would've liked. "The blood. I can't pinpoint which species, but it's undeniable."

Bill's eyes widened, then he smirked. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small vial of red liquid, connected to a metal necklace that was kept hidden around his neck by his shirt collar. "You mean this? You aren't going to freak out about it like Legosi did, are you?"

"No." Suddenly, Bill began to feel warm. It started in his chest, but it slowly spread outwards, enveloping his whole body, especially his lower half. His breathing began to quicken. "I want some."

"Uhhh," his brain short-circuited at the double meaning his mind created behind her words. "The blood right?" '_Did she always smell so… inviting? This is weird…' _Yet Bill made no move to step away from her. In fact, he could feel his bestial side welling up, wanting to get closer. But eating was the last thing on its mind.

"Yes. Where did you get it from?" He heard her question clearly, but he was seeing her in a new light now. She wasn't necessarily ugly before, she just wasn't his type. He'd never been attracted to reptiles before; he preferred girls with stripes and fur. But now, the way her scales reflected the light penetrating the hallway window, as well as her steady yet soft gaze seemed enticing where it wasn't before. Even the way she swished her tail behind that skirt made him wonder what she looked like underneath it. It was wrong, but the feelings weren't going away. And his inner beast didn't seem to care about morals right then.

"T-the Back Alley Market. It's a place where carnivores can go to buy meat."

"Can you take me there? Preferably tomorrow? I might be busy the rest of the week once Monday rolls around."

He should've said no, but instead he agreed, "Yeah! I can definitely do that." '_Could you do something for me too?' _He wanted to ask, but his growing lust didn't quite overcome the fear of what Muru would do to him if he voiced his thought aloud. "What time?"

"Around 6 that night. I know it'll be cold, but I like going around after dark, and we won't be long. I'll even buy you something you like as thanks."

"Sounds great." Purposely he made his voice just a bit deeper, more manly. "I can meet you outside your dorm room if you'd like."

"That sounds like a great idea. Here." She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her cellphone. "I can give you my number." While they exchanged numbers, Bill glanced at her from the corner of his eye, admiring her smooth horns, slim figure, her neck and lidded eyes. Most reptiles, barring snakes, were kind of bulky or bumpy. But Muru was closer to a feline in build, tall and sleek, but still powerful. He inhaled and exhaled, trying to play it off as a regular sigh, but her delicious scent seemed to intoxicate him even more, the effects traveling straight to his groin.

"Thanks for taking time out to speak with me. I'll see you tomorrow night ok?"

"Ok," he responded simply. She gave him one last smile, then turned and began walking the same way she came. Bill walked in the opposite direction, until he turned a corner and leaned on the wall. He managed to slow his heavy, rapid breathing, and he waited until his mind was no longer foggy. "What the heck was that?" He'd never gotten so aroused so fast in his life. It was definitely not natural, but even with the scent gone, Muru still sat in his mind. Looking down, he realized to his horror and embarrassment that he had an erection show through his pants. '_Oh my God, did she see that? There's no way she couldn't have.' _"Damnit," he cursed. '_Well, if she doesn't mention it I won't mention it. We're meeting tomorrow, so maybe…. Wait…' _If he took her to the Back Alley Market, he had to cancel the date with his girlfriend. Again. "Damnit!"

**/**

* * *

"I don't think it was him," Muru spoke from the top bunk of their bed. She had made it to her shared dorm just a few minutes prior, and undressed completely before climbing in bed. Her cousin churred from below, an undulating hum that told her he was processing the information. "When I asked him where he got the blood, he told me it was from a place called the Back Alley Market. It's where carnivores go to buy meat. I think he frequents there, which means he probably wouldn't take the time or effort to hunt a live herbivore. I used my musk on him, but he didn't completely lose his head. That tells me he's not bloodthirsty either."

"I agree. I also don't think he's the right size. Legosi mentioned that the culprit was huge, bigger than him. If I had to guess, it could've been someone like a bear. I mentioned that to him, and he said he would look into it."

"How did the sparring go?"

"He was bad at first, but he improved as we went on. He has great potential, and I think he'll be a good ally in the long run. His morals might be problematic though, but it's a nonfactor right now."

"Hmm…" There was a few moments of silence, interrupted only by their breathing before she continued, "If it is a bear, we'll have plenty of meat to last us a long while."

"That's why I asked you to buy all those mints. Did you get a chance to do that?"

"I'll do it tomorrow before I meet with Bill. Do you want me to bring you back anything?"

Sriracha churred again, thinking. "Rabbit meat. Any cut is fine."

**/**

* * *

The next morning Sriracha decided he'd walk around the city the majority of the day. "I'm free pretty much all day, so I might as well take the time to get to know the city. I'll visit a few stores and buy some things here and there too," he told Muru as he finished putting his clothes on, a black long sleeve shirt and black pants.

His cousin was lounging on her top bunk, her face in a medical book she brought from her country. "Ok. Can you bring me back some bandaging material? Also, if you see an herb store, could you get me the things on this list?" She reached for her pen and notebook beside her, tore off a sheet, and wrote a list of about a dozen items. She handed it to Sriracha, who pocketed it.

"I'll be back in a few hours," Sriracha said as he exited their shared dorm. He walked down the hall, encountering only a few other students since it was Sunday and most were sleeping in. He had only been at the school for a short time, but he quickly located the steps that would lead him to the first level of the building and to the front doors. When he stepped outside, he looked up at the dreary sky that promised heavy snow, and made a mental note to text Legosi to see if he still wanted to meet that night. It would be even colder than yesterday; nothing the dragon couldn't handle, but he wasn't sure if Legosi would want to train in the snow.

Between flying and walking, Sriracha chose to walk. Flying was faster, but walking on the ground provided more detail, as well as the ability to speak to others if needed. He took his time, taking in the scenery and plantlife, observing fellow students doing their own thing, young couples being in premature love. Eventually he arrived at the edge of the school grounds, where the bus stop awaited to take animals to and from the city. There were two sturdy, wooden benches and a bus sign, which had the pick-up times listed. It seemed he had missed it by almost five minutes, and had to wait another twenty minutes before it made its way back to the school. He plopped down on one of the benches and took a deep breath, inhaling the frosty air and cooling himself slightly. When he exhaled, a large stream of vapor exited from his mouth and nostrils. He was so busy staring at the rising tendrils that he almost missed the sound of small footsteps from behind him. Turning his head slightly, he immediately recognized the female white dwarf rabbit that he had seen intermittently around the school. She was wearing a navy blue hoodie with matching mittens, along with her regular uniform dress. She was staring at him intently, even as she made her way to the empty bench on his left side and sat there. He turned his gaze to face the road, dismissing her.

After a few moments, she breaks the icy silence. "Hey, you're that dragon that's been hanging out with Legosi."

"If hanging out is what you want to call it, yes," he said without looking at her.

"What do you guys do together?"

"Why is it any business of yours what we do?"

"Because I'm his girlfriend and I deserve to know." He looked at her then, curious and pleasantly surprised.

"Girlfriend? I didn't know this city was so accepting of interspecies relationships."

"They're not, but I don't care about that."

Sriracha smirked. "Brave little bunny you are, going against the status quo. I admire that. I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Sriracha."

"I'm Haru." She took the introduction as permission to sit directly next to him, skipping over to his bench and plopping beside him without fear or hesitation. "You're very warm."

"Thanks," he responded blandly. The rabbit was nearly touching him, and he didn't like animals coming into his personal space unnecessarily. However, this was an opportunity to receive some information from someone close to Legosi, so he let it slide. "What year are you anyway?"

"I'm a third year."

"Any clubs?"

"The Gardening club. I'm the only member though."

"What do you do there?"

"Garden, duh."

And so the dragon bombarded the rabbit with questions, one after the other until Haru realized he hadn't even answered the first question she asked him a few minutes ago. Before he could throw another question, she interrupted, "Hey! You didn't even answer my question!"

"Legosi and I spar. I'm training him to be a better fighter." Sriracha looked up at the darkening sky as delicate snowflakes began to flutter from above. "If you're so concerned why didn't you ask him?"

"Because I hardly see him, that's why." Just before, her voice sounded vexed, now she seemed sad, even a little angry. "After that incident a few weeks ago, he and I aren't as close as we were."

Even more curious, Sriracha looked at her and asked, "What incident?"

"It's nothing." She looked at the ground and kicked her feet. "I'm talking too much." But Sriracha wanted to know more. And he wanted to know before the bus arrived, or she might not want to speak of it again. He decided to try a different tactic.

It wasn't something that he normally did, but he began to release a small amount of his musk. He had never used it on a female of another species before, let alone a rabbit, and had no idea if it would work like he wanted it to. But as he did so, he saw her sigh and relax a little more. Trying not to appear too intimidating to the pint-sized bunny, he smiled softly and gently coaxed her to speak. "I don't mind talking, really. I'm actually glad you came, or else I would've been bored this whole time waiting for the bus. How about this, if you tell me about what happened, I'll tell you a story of mine I haven't told anyone either."

She peeked up at him from beneath her hoodie, feeling a little bit more relaxed next to him, not to mention warm. She scooted a little closer to get even warmer, leaning on him as she prepared to tell the story of her kidnapping and rescue. "Alright then. It all started at the Meteor Festival a few weeks ago…"

**/**

* * *

The city bus arrived just as Haru finished telling the story of her kidnapping by the Shishigumi, her rescue by Legosi, and Louis' absence from school. During the story-telling, Sriracha worried that his musk was making her too emotional, since she burst into tears when recounting the part where she realized how weak she was, that she couldn't fight back to save herself even if her life depended on it; how she had to rely on Legosi to save her or she'd be dead. Sriracha attempted to comfort her by rubbing her small back, and decided to continue secreting his musk even on the bus. He knew females tended to talk more when they were emotional, so he was willing to risk any attention he might get on the bus.

He allowed her to go ahead of him on the bus, which he realized had a higher ceiling than normal buses, just enough where he could just lower his head slightly instead of crouching like he thought he would have to do. He ignored the wide-eyed stares as he situated himself beside Haru, and took up almost two whole seats next to her. Her eyes were teary and she was still sniffling. Sriracha thought it unwise to give her a touch of comfort in front of so many other animals, so instead he said,

"I know you may hate yourself for your weakness, but that's not a good reason to hate yourself. I move through life only worrying about the things that I can change, and not worrying about what I can't change." He wasn't looking at her as he said it, but now he did as he added, "You can't really control what others do, only what you can do. Instead of thinking about what you can't do, why don't you _act_ on becoming better at what you _can do." _He let her ruminate on that in silence until the bus arrived at his stop. He stood up, "I'll be going now. It was nice to meet you Haru."

She hopped out of her seat, "Actually, I was wondering if I could come along."

Sriracha suppressed an annoyed sigh and stopped secreting his musk. _'Such an annoying rabbit.' _"Alright. In return, you show me around the city, and help me to run some errands."

She gave a cute bunny-esque smile and followed him off the bus. They stood on the sidewalk for a moment as he pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to Haru. "First errand, I need you to show me where we can get these herbs and some bandaging material."

Haru took the paper and looked it over. "I know where we can buy some bandaging, but if you want, I can give you most of these fresh herbs from the garden at the school for free."

"I'll pay you," Sriracha said nonchalantly. "Nothing in life is free."

**/**

* * *

Since Sriracha gave Haru permission to lead him around, she decided to take him to the herbal store first, pointing out various key streets and shops to remember in the future. After a few minutes, they stopped in the front of a building that had a hole-in-the-wall vibe to it. The building itself was sandwiched between two larger ones, and it was made of aged red brick with two areas of plain dirt on either side of the wooden door, presumably a place for plants to grow when the season came. The only thing that seemed modern about the store was a colorful sign above the door that said _'The Natural Apothecary'. _The two windows on either side of the door had vines growing along the side of them from the inside, which Sriracha saw had blue and white blooming flowers along it, once he entered the shop with Haru.

He immediately bombarded by a plethora of earthy and floral scents, so much that he had to concentrate to make out each individual one, and there were few that he recognized. Once the door was closed behind them, he also realized that it was very warm, a sharp contrast to the nipping cold that was soon to be biting. There were shelves all over the place, covered in just as many labeled jars full of dried plants. There were even jars lined along the floor against the wall. Despite the place's clutter, it was surprisingly clean. No dust or random plant pieces anywhere.

They made their way to the empty clerk's counter, where a bell rested. Haru rung it twice, and Sriracha heard a scurrying noise from behind the thick curtain that separated the rear of the counter from the rest of the store. To his surprise, a rat, and a huge one at that, made its way from behind the curtain and hopped onto a stool behind the counter to greet its customers.

The rat, a male, had dark grey fur with a patch of white on his chest, and beady black eyes. He wore only a little light gray shirt and no pants, making his testicles entirely visible to the newcomers. "Hello there, welcome!" he squeaked. "It's been such a long time Haru. And I see you brought a visitor with you." The little rat showed no fear at all as he extended his tiny hand to the dragon and smiled, showing his yellow incisors. "Hello there dragon! My name is Chi. Welcome to The Natural Apothecary."

Sriracha stood for a moment, then extended an index finger to gently shake the rat's hand. "Nice to meet you Chi. I'm Sriracha."

"Like the sauce, yes?"

"Exactly like the sauce."

"Curious!" Chi jumped from the stool directly onto the counter. "What can I do for you both today?"

"Sriracha came to buy some of these herbs. Just these top three here." Haru gave Chi the paper, and the rat squinted at it as he read over the words. "I've got exactly what you're looking for!" He didn't bother handing the paper back to Haru, letting it fall onto the counter as he jumped to the floor and raced toward a shelf to the right of them. He climbed it with agility that rivaled a monkey's, and proceeded to grab a paper bag and scoop attached to the side of the jar. "How much of each were you thinking?"

Sriracha sighed, "I don't know, how much is half a pound?"

"$10!"

"Get me half a pound of each then."

Chi carried out his request in record time, and in less than two minutes had all three herbs in paper bags at the counter. "That'll be $40!"

"I thought it was $30."

"Tax of course! Come on, you're a dragon, I know you have the money."

"Typical stereotype." Sriracha gave the rat two 20s, and the rodent practically snatched it from his hand. He turned around with the cash to head towards the separating curtain, using his tail to sweep the bagged herbs toward the dragon.

"There ya go! Come back soon."

"He might, if you'll wear some pants," Haru replied at the rat's retreating form.

Without turning around, Chi retorted, "Sure, and I'll charge you extra next time to pay for them." Haru scowled and led the way out the door, where they were greeted by softly falling snowflakes. Haru brushed one off her nose as she apologized to her companion, "Sorry about him. He has some wonderful plants, but he's a weirdo."

"I noticed. Does he always have his balls out?"

Haru sighed, "Yeah. He says it lets him feel free."

"Well, next time I'll be sending my cousin to get her own herbs."

"Hey, what did you mean by stereotype, when he insisted you had money?"

"It's commonplace, and often correct, to assume that dragons have decent amounts of money. It's a stereotype, like crows enjoy stealing shiny objects, or female bunnies are promiscuous. Come on, let's get going."

And so the pair made their way around the city, and Sriracha let Haru do most of the talking while he observed her. Despite the biting cold, she was cheerful and always had something to add to their one-sided conversation. Sriracha didn't know if his musk from earlier made her open up more, or if she was naturally this cheerful. Her presence had grown on him however, and he supposed he could see what Legosi saw in her as a romantic partner. She was nice, considerate, cute, and not to mention brave. He dwarfed her by at least 3 feet yet she didn't seem nervous in the least. In fact, whenever the wind chill became too strong for her, she would walk closer to his side to try and steal some of the heat that radiated off of him. Eventually he suggested they get something to eat, both to get out of the cold and warm themselves up.

After the cafe barista got over her initial shock at seeing a dragon, the capuchin monkey female named Deedee took their orders and delivered them once they were ready: sweet carrot and celery cappuccino, and chocolate espresso. The duo sat at a booth near the back of the cafe, drinking their respective coffees across from each other. Haru shivered as the drink warmed her insides. "Mmm, I haven't had this in such a long time. Thanks for putting up with me all day. It's been a while since I've been able to relax like this and enjoy myself."

Sriracha hummed and sipped his coffee. He made a mental note not to use as much musk on her in the future. "We can sit here for a bit if you'd like; we'll go get the bandages whenever you're ready."

Haru gave a bunny-esque smile and took another gulp of her drink. She didn't know if this dragon had an ulterior move, if he was just being nice, or was planning to eat her later. Whatever the case, ever since she let out all her pent up emotions earlier, she'd been in a much better mood than usual, and being able to drink her favorite coffee that she hadn't tasted in such a long while, was making her day. _'And I suppose that _I _came to _him_.' _she thought. _'And I do like him. I can be eaten by any carnivore at any time,'_ she studied his scales while he looked over her head, his eyes gazing across the rest of the cafe and it's inhabitants. _'He's right. I can't control what others do. But I can choose what I want to do. And for right now, I just want to be happy.'_

**/**

* * *

Night descended upon the city with a definite temperature drop, but the snow fell just as lightly as it had in the day. The Back Alley Market was still open, as it had been for years, through nearly all weather and all holidays. Like always, bustling patrons made their way to and from each stand showing cuts of herbivore meat of all kinds, and a certain tiger-dragon duo were making their way towards one of them.

Muru hadn't forgotten to buy Sriracha's cut of rabbit meat as he requested, and wanted to do that as soon as possible in case it would be sold out. All the while, she was talking and joking with Bill, getting him to lighten up and become more chatty. He talked to her about his girlfriend, his feline dorm-friends, classmates, the drama club, the stage-fight between him and Legosi, Legosi's weird relationship with Haru, Louis disappearance from school, and what he wanted to do after graduating. All the while Muru listened patiently with a soft smile, taking in all the information while only giving just enough in return.

"I mean, I know I've still got some time to think about it," Bill went on, "but I'm thinking of becoming something along the lines of a professional bodyguard or something like that. I like the drama club and everything, but I like winning a fight even more. That fight between Legosi and I was pretty exhilarating, especially since I don't get to do it that often."

"So you like to spar then?" Muru asked. Bill shrugged.

"Yeah, something like that. A little blood here and there doesn't hurt, but you know how we carnivores are. Sometimes it's nice to get in a bit of a tussle without getting in trouble for it, ya know?"

"Oh I know." Muru stepped up to the meat stand advertising rabbit meat. The seller was an older, lanky cheetah male with hazel-colored eyes who greeted her.

"Hoh hoh, well looky here," he grinned. "The infamous dragon, here at my table. It's an honor to meet you miss."

Muru smiled. "Thank you. Luckily for you, I'm interested in buying some rabbit tonight."

"Oh, I've got more than rabbit." The cheetah ducked underneath the table for a moment, before coming up with what looked to be a mini-cooler in his arms. He set it on the table in front of them and unlatched it. "Now, I only show this to customers who I think can really afford it. Unless mammalian or even reptilian meat, this meat is very rare." He slowly opened the cooler from the top, showing a platter of fresh sushi on ice.

Bill stepped forward to get a closer look, eyes widened. "No way! Is that fish?"

"Of course it is, what else would it be, squirrel?" the cheetah responded sarcastically. "And back up will ya, you're practically breathing on it." Bill's ears tilted back in embarrassment as he took a step back, but his eyes didn't leave the sushi. He'd never tasted fish before, and although he's heard from different sources that it tasted delicious or disgusting, it looked extremely appetizing. "Besides, this is specifically for the dragon lady here, if she wants. I'll even give you a sample if you'd like."

Muru, who noticed Bill's hungry gaze, said, "How about this: I'll buy two pounds of rabbit meat and one pound of sushi from you. Then you can give me your name, and I'll only buy fish from you from now on."

"Deal! And I can give you more than just my name." The cheetah reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled business card, with his name, Tyre, in bold letters across it, as well as his number, availability and table location in the market. "Give me a call whenever you get the craving for it."

Muru thanked him and paid the price he offered without a second thought, and she walked away with a shocked Bill in tow. "I can't believe you just paid all that-"

"Here." She handed him the bag of sushi while she kept the bagged rabbit meat in the other hand. "I got it for you. You seemed to be itching for some."

"Wow, thanks," Bill breathed in the scent of the fish, and he couldn't help himself. He ate the whole pound of sushi practically in one bite, and even licked his fingers and muzzle to get any scales and juices. "That was delicious! It's my first time ever trying fish. Eh, sorry I, uh, didn't leave you any."

"Don't worry about it," Muru waved if off as she bit a chunk out of a rabbit thigh. "I've had fish before where I come from. Over there, the sea creatures would surrender their criminals to us to be eaten. We looked at it as a treat since it didn't happen very often."

"Sounds like my kind of place," Bill laughed. "A place where carnivores don't have to hide what they are." The two continued their trek through the market as they conversed.

"Yes, it is sad that it's that way. But I don't think it'll be like that forever. Eventually things will have to change, just as things have changed for us to be living in cities like this. Even with this market existing here, shows how much society is moving in another direction."

"If it keeps going like this, than I'd say the change is good."

Muru sighed contently, belly full of rabbit meat. "Well, change itself is neither bad nor good. But it certainly means not the same."

After that they enjoyed small talk and admiring the hanging meat at various tables. Bill felt it 'unmanly' to have allowed Muru to buy him something and he hadn't gotten anything for her, so he bought her a smoked meat and vegetable kabob, which she ate wholeheartedly. They had a great time, Bill especially, and as they exited the market and took the bus back to the school, he realized it was one of the few times where he hung out with a female he was attracted to, and didn't plan for it to end in sex. He genuinely had a good time with Muru, and when he made it back to his dorm and was bombarded by questions from his roommates, he told them with a smug look, "If she was a tigress, I'd totally bang her."

* * *

**/**

* * *

"Why do you smell like rabbit?" Legosi asked the dragon suspiciously. _'Specifically Haru.' _

The two predators were once again out at night in the large clearing where their sparring had become a regular occurrence. Sriracha continued to circle him as Legosi moved his body to make sure the teal dragon couldn't get behind him. He answered, "I was hanging out with Haru today. She's your girlfriend, correct?"

"Well, sort of." Sriracha suddenly charged Legosi, intending to swipe at his muzzle with razor claws. Legosi ducked under it and sent a punch right to Sriracha's gut, causing him to grunt. He attempted to grab Legosi to bring him to the ground since he was so close, but the wolf swiftly jumped to the side and out of range. Sriracha wouldn't let him get away that easily, and rushed him again, swiping at his head, neck, shoulders, and chest will pushing him back and forcing the wolf to do nothing but dodge until he could find an opening. He was quick on his feet, but the dragon wanted to see how long he could keep it up before tiring. After almost thirty seconds, Legosi suddenly reached out and grabbed Sriracha's wrist and jerked him off balance, but only for a split second. Sriracha braced his feet and blocked Legosi's next gut punch while also grabbing onto the wolf's wrist with his other hand as well so they were holding each other. Sriracha also grabbed Legosi's other wrist, jerked him forward, kicked his opponent's abdomen, and released his wrist holds so Legosi fell straight onto his back, gasping.

Sriracha leaped at Legosi to finish him, but the wolf rolled to the side then to his feet, panting, but unwilling to give up. Sriracha stood up and faced his opponent, smirking. "If I said I was going to take Haru from you, would you fight better?"

Legosi raised his fists. "Depends on if you're serious or not."

Sriracha got into a fighting stance. "Depends on if you win this match or not."

Legosi fought much harder after that, even giving Sriracha more of a workout than usual. But in the end, the dragon managed to flip Legosi onto his back and placed one foot on his chest, signifying his win. Though the white wolf didn't want to give up, almost his entire body was sore and aching, and his abdomen still hurt a lot from getting kicked, and pushing through the fight. Breathing heavily, he accepted Sriracha's hand and was pulled to his feet.

"I wasn't serious about taking Haru from you by the way," Sriracha said. "I just wanted to see if that would trigger you to fight harder, and it did."

Trying to catch his breath and allow the cold air to cool him down, Legosi asked, "So why were you hanging out with her today?" He hoped he didn't sound jealous, even though he was.

"She walked up to me actually. She knew you were spending time with me, and I assume she wanted to know if I was the reason you weren't hanging around her anymore."

"Did she mention me at all?"

"Only in the beginning. After that she didn't really talk about you much. She did tell me about how you saved her from a lion mafia, the Shishigumi I think. You never told me you had a whole slew of enemies on your tail."

"Well, I kind of forgot about it to be honest, with all this training and looking for Tem's killer."

"You forgot you fought a lion gang? You are an airhead." Legosi shot him a disgruntled look, but he was so tired he didn't feel like arguing.

"I'm ready to head back to the school." Sriracha nodded and walked side by side with him. When they got to the building, Sriracha left Legosi with some final words to ponder over the night. It was a sentence he didn't want to think about much, but knew that eventually, the time would come to see it through.

"If you keep making enemies like this Legosi, be prepared to take someone's life."

**/**

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Deviations from the manga (besides this being a fanfiction that naturally deviates from it anyway):**

**Since Gouhan has agreed to have Legosi train with Sriracha, Legosi meets Gouhin for his meat training first on the weekdays, then after that, and on weekend evenings, Legosi meets with Sriracha for sparring.**

**Unless a scene is specifically stated to have changed from the manga, it happens exactly as in the manga, so it is not rewritten here. For example, Louis still saved Cosmo the okapi stripper from the spectacled bear, and then saw Legosi in the back alley market afterwards. Legosi still did the tug-war test with Bill and lost.**

**Also, characters that may seem like side-characters, both OC's here and characters in the manga, will be making important appearances that will help develop and mature the main characters. Also small mentions of certain items, like "Red Sauce" and "Kui", hint hint, will be more important factors in the future. There will also be cameo appearances of characters from other anthro movies and video games, though I'm thinking of not classifying this as a crossover since they won't be the main focus of the story.**


End file.
